Tiger, tiger burning bright,
In the forest of the night;
What immortal hand or eye,
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?
Poet William Blake penned those words as he marveled over the magnificent creation that is the tiger. As recently as 1900, more than 100,000 of the giant cats prowled the continent of Asia. But due to habitat loss and poaching, populations plummeted. In 2010, the number of tigers counted in the wild hit an all-time low. Only about 3,200 were known to survive.
For the first time in more than a century, the world’s tiger count has actually gone up. Some 3,890 were identified by conservation groups and national governments in the latest global census. The survey completed in 2014 measured tigers roaming the forests from Russia to Vietnam and India to Indonesia.
India alone holds more than half the world’s tigers. It submitted the number of 2,226 within its borders.
Experts say the news is cause for celebration. But they stopped short of saying the number of tigers itself was actually rising. It may just be that those who track tigers are more aware of the animals’ whereabouts. Survey methods are improving. More areas are also being included in the counts.
The trend is in the right direction, though. That’s encouraging, says Ginette Hemley, senior vice president of wildlife conservation at the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).
Ministers from 13 tiger-dwelling countries met in New Delhi, India. They are developing a plan to double the world’s wild tiger population by 2022. The goal is to protect habitats, reestablish prey, and further restrict poaching. With those key issues addressed, conservationists believe there could be 6,400 tigers in the wild by the goal date.
Not all nations are seeing progress, though. Russia, India, Bhutan, and Nepal all counted more tigers in their latest surveys. But Southeast Asian countries such as Cambodia—which reported no tigers in the census—have struggled.
That’s why getting the council together to help one another is so important. "When you have well-protected habitat and you control the poaching, tigers will recover. That's a pretty simple formula. We know it works,” says Hemley.
